


Sailing Seas and Climbing Banyons

by Aishuu



Series: East Kingdoms Block Party [4]
Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Genre: Community: 31_days, Fluff, Gen, Post-Anime, Post-Series, The Livejournal exodus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 04:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1969158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shouryuu returns to the sea for a quick voyage with a disgruntled Enki in tow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sailing Seas and Climbing Banyons

Enki would tell anyone who cared to listen – and many who didn't – that Shouryuu was a crazy idiot. He said it loudly and often, but that never seemed to have any effect on his master, who just laughed the accusation off.

He sat sulkily on the deck of King En's latest brainstorm, feeling entirely put out about the whole affair. The wind was coming from the northeast, and they were going to have to sail right into it if they were to reach Tai in time for the centennial celebration. Shouryuu, of course, had refused to go by suugu, instead deciding that sailing the royal vessel would be preferable. Enki didn't see the point – it took more time, the ride was a lot more bumpy, and ships were entirely too confined for his liking.

Plus it smelled like fish.

Enki wished he'd been able to just fly himself, but Shouryuu had declared it a mandatory trip for the entire En delegation. "It's a grand adventure, and surely I can't go without my kirin by my side!"

Enki had snorted at that, but was unable to deny the whim of his master. Shouryuu hadn't _made_ it a command, but it was in a kirin's nature to want to please his master. Besides, Shouryuu was enough of a jerk to _make_ it a command if Enki got really feisty about it.

He sighed again, inching forward to avoid the ship's boy, who was trying to scrub the deck. The boy – actually a horse hanjyuu – was uneasy about encroaching on the Holy Kirin's space, but the job needed to be done. "Don't worry about getting me wet – I'm already soaked," Enki said charitably.

The boy looked up, neighing a bit in surprise. "Thank you, my lord!"

Enki smiled, hoping to settle the boy down, while inwardly thinking his own muzzle was much more attractive. "No worries," he said, before turning his head back out to the horizon.

Behind him, he could hear his master's voice, loud and booming, as he talked with the first mate. Shouryuu was in his element, captaining the ship. Never mind that the ship wasn't built at all like the ones Shouryuu had piloted, way back when he'd still lived in Japan. It was a _ship_ , and something about it made Shouryuu even more buoyant than usually. He grew up as part of a sailing clan, after all.

The sky started to change colors, painted with the imminent sunset, and Enki sighed to himself.

"If you have to be sick, make sure you lean over the rail." He looked over his shoulder to see Shouryuu standing there with a wicked grin on his too-smug face.

Enki glared back, annoyed. "I'm a kirin, I'm not going to get seasick."

"I was afraid you'd eaten too many peaches before leaving," Shouryuu said, coming to sit on the deck beside Enki. The ship's boy, who was now several arm lengths away, stared at them over his pail, in a bit of awe from being so close to their august presences.

"I'm not going to get fresh fruit for a while, am I?" he retorted. Privately he would admit to being just a bit on the gluttonous side when it came to fresh peaches, but he wasn't going to let his master know that. Shouryuu had enough ammunition for teasing as it was.

"I made sure plenty were packed in the cargo, and we're not traveling so far that they will have a chance to go bad," Shouryuu responded. "Wouldn't want to deprive the poor little kirin."

At least Shouryuu didn't try to ruffle his hair, Enki thought. "Whatever. I don't see why we have to take a boat when we can fly."

"It's a ship," Shouryuu corrected. "It's much too large to be called a boat, stupid horse."

Enki just sniffed, turning his head. "Whatever. Why do you insist on doing this?"

He was expecting another of those teasing answers, the one where Shouryuu pretended to be a wastrel rather than ruler, but was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder. "Look out there, what do you see?" Shouryuu pointed his free hand out toward the ocean.

Enki stared across the waves. "There's just a lot of water."

Shouryuu clicked his teeth disapprovingly. "Do all kirin have so little in the way of imaginations?"

"What do you see, Shouryuu?"

"I see the possibilities," he said. "I look to the horizon and wonder what's beyond it, and what it will be like to see it."

"We're heading toward Tai. You've seen Tai before."

"Just because something is there one day doesn't mean it will be the same something there the next day. Things change – that's the one constant in all worlds. My people were seafaring folk, and that's what kept them going – they always wanted to see what new thing would appear."

The happiness Shouryuu spoke with made Enki worry. He wondered if Shouryuu wanted to just sail off, and never return to En. "Do you miss sailing that much?"

Shouryuu laughed, and shook his head. "The reason my people sailed was because they needed the trade to improve their lives. Exploration may have been the thrill, but in the end, practicality had to win out. I take what I discover on these trips, and bring back the best to En. That's the way it's supposed to be."

Enki smiled, feeling the warmth of his master's hand permeate his body. Looking out across the ocean, he decided he could live with Shouryuu's love of the sea. "As long as you come home to us, I suppose some sightseeing can't hurt."

This time Shouryuu did ruffle Enki's hair, earning a sharp elbow to the gut in return.


End file.
